Furlough days for Pentagon civilian lowered to 6 (updated)

Furloughs for Department of Defense civilian workers will be
cut down from 11 to six, according to a statement issued today by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.

The news comes just days after
Pentagon officials said no final decision had been made to lower the number of days
of unpaid leave for more than 650,000 civilian workers.

Civilian workers began taking one day a week of unpaid leave
starting July 8. Most workers have already taken between four and five days,
leaving two more days at most if the number is trimmed to six. The AP had
reported the Pentagon would lower the number of furlough days to six if it could
locate $900 million in savings through the end of the fiscal year.

Cutting that number has been a priority for Hagel, who said the Pentagon was continually looking for ways to
lower the financial burden on its civilian workforce. The 11 days of furlough
would save the Pentagon $1.8 billion, a fraction of the $37 billion its losing
to sequestration's across-the-board cuts.

According to AP reports, Hagel approved the final numbers
this week after meeting with military leaders.

Updated at 2 p.m. to reflect that the cut in furlough days had been made official by the secretary of defense.